Of Years Lost and Experience Gained
by arithmadick2-0
Summary: A conversation I like to believe Happy and Patrick had after the events of Robots.


Disclaimer: I don't own Scorpion

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Walking into his shop, she's nervous. Less nervous than Christmas, when she told him she was his daughter, but more nervous than she feels she should be. After straightening himself up from the hood of a car, he welcomes her with a smile and tells her there's a new car in the back for an old friend of his that she can take of care of if she wants.

"Thanks, maybe tomorrow. I didn't come to work on a car. Maybe Toby's shrink babble has worn off on me over the years, but we need to discuss what happened last week." Her eyebrows raise as she waits for his response, her anxiety building. Patrick sets down the dirty rag and steps away from the car and towards the small kitchen. Pulling out a bottle of water he offers one to her but she shakes her head. He sits down at the bar as she places herself on the table, one leg crossed and the other dangling. He's looking at her expectantly to say something and Happy realizes she should have thought this through more but it's too late to run out now.

"I almost died. I, technically, should have died along with Walter and Nathan. None of us should still be here and all three of us are. That's thanks to you. You were on the boat with Toby and everyone and after I found that out, I'd never wanted to live that badly; I never expected to want to live that badly. It's barely been 8 months since we established we were family. It scares me to lose this more than a lot of other things do." Swallowing, Happy holds her father's gaze as he processes what she just told him. Patrick clears his throat before speaking.

"Thank you for giving me this chance, Happy. To be in your life after all of these years. Your job worries me more often than not; when you tell me what your case was and what happened. But I never could have imagined that Toby and Sylvester would run into my shop and need me. I almost had a heart attack when Toby said you were in trouble. And again when the sub exploded. That minute of waiting was one of the worst of my life. I'm so grateful you're still alive. I would hate myself if you'd died." Patrick looks down as he finishes talking, taking a deep breath before meeting her eyes again.

"I've tried not to think about that." Happy tells him with a nervous smile. "It's not worth it when it happens so often. I'd drown if I dwelled on it. Apart from what happened on the sub, what almost happened," Happy sighs and cracks her knuckles, "we need to talk about the conversation you and Toby had." Raising her eyebrows, Happy holds Patrick's gaze until he looks away, laughing lightly at how quickly she changed the subjects.

"Yes, Toby and I did talk on the boat." Rolling her eyes at the sheer childish feeling she senses in the conversation, she reitterates to her dad what she told Toby.

"I am not comfortable with you having in-depth conversations with my coworker." Despite how serious she sounds, they both know there's much more than "coworker" when it comes to Toby.

"I'm probably going to be the first one to confront you about this: you know Toby's more than a coworker. So are you not comfortable with me talking to him on a level of you two work together, or a level that you two are friends- possibly best friends, or are you not comfortable with me talking to him because you love him?" Patrick's eyes are wide as he waits for her to answer, his lips in a slight smile. Happy freezes at the words.

"I am not in love with Toby. He's my coworker and he's my friend but nothing more."

"Happy, we both know there's more. I can see it in him and I can see it in you, he's just much more open with his feelings. I'm not going to push any farther, because I don't know your past with him, if anything's ever been said or done, but listen to me when I say this. Don't deny yourself someone who you know cares for you and you care for as well. It isn't worth running from when they be gone in a second, when you can lose someone so quickly after not enough time together." The tears in his eyes confirm for Happy that he's remembering her mother. Happy lowers her eyes, twirling one of her rings around her finger and closing her eyes; she doesn't know what to say about finally having her dad back or losing her mom or about her and Toby. Swallowing, Happy runs her hands through her hair.

"Do you want to talk about her? We really haven't." Patrick looks back but shakes his head.

"Another time, I promise." Happy doesn't prod for more, she knows how she is and can infer her dad is the same way.

"He got a dollhouse." Happy says bluntly, a scoff at the end of her sentence but her eyes read as content with it.

"He said that he'd help me restore it."

Knowing what she's talking about fully, Patrick smiles widely and says he's glad she has Toby.

"I think I'll have him help me hang lights in it."


End file.
